Singapore\u2019s public healthcare sector\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0consistently\u00a0adopting\u00a0digital solutions to modernise processes, services, and operations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this has also\u00a0resulted in\u00a0calls\u00a0for improvements\u00a0to\u00a0earlier systems to support evolving operational needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It has been felt that with\u00a0digitalisation of\u00a0healthcare accelerating,\u00a0the sector\u2019s identity and access management\u00a0(IAM)\u00a0processes need to evolve from manual and resource-intensive processes\u00a0through automation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0real\u00a0transformation\u00a0lies in fundamentally\u00a0changing\u00a0how\u00a0we\u00a0work,\u201d says\u00a0Synapxe\u2019s\u00a0Director of Infrastructure Services, Serena Yong.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shares with\u00a0GovInsider\u00a0<\/em>about\u00a0Synapxe\u2019s\u00a0Automated Identity & Access Management (AIAM)\u00a0system, which\u00a0modernises\u00a0identity and access management across the entire public healthcare ecosystem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n AIAM responds to evolving regulatory expectations and cybersecurity standards that call for\u00a0more\u00a0automation and real-time governance to strengthen controls and improve\u00a0internal processes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0system was awarded the\u00a0Digital Government Award\u00a0at\u00a0GovInsider<\/em>\u2019s\u00a0Festival of Innovation 2026<\/a>\u00a0for its transformative impact at scale in the public healthcare sector, supporting\u00a0over 130,000 users across over 40 public healthcare institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The project started with the realisation that\u00a0original\u00a0IAM\u00a0processes\u00a0need to evolve\u00a0to adapt to\u00a0growing staff numbers, system integrations\u00a0access, and\u00a0security\u00a0requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This\u00a0meant\u00a0longer onboarding time for clinicians and frontline staff,\u00a0varied\u00a0turnaround times\u00a0due to different approval workflows, and higher administrative effort for IT teams\u00a0managing thousands of access requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another\u00a0concern was\u00a0ensuring\u00a0the\u00a0timely\u00a0deactivation of accounts\u00a0to prevent any\u00a0potential security\u00a0concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yong\u00a0adds\u00a0that they sought to\u00a0ensure\u00a0new\u00a0users\u00a0receive their accounts\u00a0in\u00a0a timely\u00a0manner\u00a0on their first day of work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This\u00a0is important particularly for frontline healthcare staff,\u00a0as\u00a0timely\u00a0system access\u00a0enables\u00a0operational continuity and patient care delivery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The AIAM system\u00a0streamlines\u00a0the onboarding\u00a0process\u00a0for healthcare staff\u00a0while reducing administrative burden and strengthening security and compliance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Improving audit readiness\u00a0is\u00a0also a key\u00a0objective, notes Yong, explaining\u00a0the complexity of managing\u00a0accounts\u00a0across the entire public healthcare system\u00a0due to constant\u00a0staff\u00a0movement across\u00a0entities\u00a0or\u00a0hospitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen\u00a0staff\u00a0moved\u00a0between\u00a0entities\u00a0previously, new accounts were often created at each location, as account management was handled independently by each\u00a0department\u00a0before AIAM. With AIAM in place, we now have end-to-end visibility, ensuring users\u00a0maintain\u00a0a single account across PHIs,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0AIAM system\u00a0creates\u00a0a single unified\u00a0public healthcare-wide\u00a0identity management system, adds Yong.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Aiming to reduce manual steps and turnaround time, the\u00a0AIAM\u00a0system adopts an end-to-end\u00a0provisioning of user access that ensures\u00a0timely\u00a0issuance of\u00a0Active Directory ID (ADID), Microsoft365 (M365), and Hospital Medical Record System access across all\u00a0public\u00a0healthcare\u00a0institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Human Resources (HR) department\u00a0directly triggers auto-provisioning,\u00a0modification\u00a0and deprovisioning, which\u00a0helps\u00a0to\u00a0speed up the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n The integration across ADID, M365,\u00a0HR systems,\u00a0and\u00a0SAP\u00a0systems\u00a0(such as\u00a0medical record systems\u00a0and public healthcare directories)\u00a0also\u00a0provides\u00a0users\u00a0with all the tools and resources they need from day one.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When staff\u00a0departs, the system automatically\u00a0deprovisions\u00a0their accounts\u00a0within 24 hours\u00a0of\u00a0their\u00a0HR-recorded departure,\u00a0eliminating\u00a0delays and\u00a0security exposures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Through extensive role\u00a0and\u00a0access\u00a0standardisation within hospital medical record systems, new employees\u00a0can\u00a0receive the required system access from the first day at the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n This harmonisation also\u00a0enables\u00a0Healthcare-Specific\u00a0Role-Based Access\u00a0Control\u00a0(RBAC), says Yong.\u00a0<\/p>\n RBAC\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0implemented to standardise access provisioning based on defined job functions. For example, a doctor specialising in\u00a0cardiology\u00a0would\u00a0get access to\u00a0modules and content\u00a0about\u00a0their specialisation, explains Yong.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mapping\u00a0access profiles to role requirements\u00a0helps to\u00a0ensure that staff are automatically granted the systems and information they need to perform their duties effectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This approach minimises the risk of over-provisioning and privilege creep, and strengthens zero-trust access governance, ensuring that access is\u00a0appropriate\u00a0and controlled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While\u00a0Yong\u2019s\u00a0role\u00a0as the IT\u00a0integrator\u00a0has been\u00a0to manage the automation for\u00a0identity\u00a0and\u00a0access across\u00a0the entire\u00a0sector,\u00a0numerous\u00a0other\u00a0stakeholders\u00a0have been\u00a0involved in\u00a0developing\u00a0AIAM.\u00a0<\/p>\n To harmonise and standardise access across institutions, the project\u00a0coordinated\u00a0with\u00a0over\u00a0100 stakeholders in HR, Group Chief Information Officers, (CIOs), IT teams, and clinical users.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yong\u00a0says\u00a0that aligning everyone\u00a0has\u00a0not\u00a0been\u00a0easy,\u00a0but the collective effort was necessary for a consistent,\u00a0secure\u00a0and unified access framework.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll my colleagues and stakeholders had a common\u00a0objective\u00a0\u2026 about how\u00a0to deliver better care for our patients. That common\u00a0objective\u00a0allowed us to move things a lot faster,\u201d says Yong.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This\u00a0spirit of collaboration across institutions also shaped the governance approach behind AIAM.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n AIAM\u2019s Deputy Chair and NHG Health\u2019s Group Chief Digital Health Officer,\u00a0Adjunct\u00a0Associate\u00a0Professor\u00a0Eric Wong,\u00a0highlights the importance of close partnership between healthcare and technology teams:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe successful rollout of AIAM shows how strong governance and secured access control can be achieved at scale across public healthcare. Tight collaboration between healthcare leaders and technology teams is essential for developing such governance frameworks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNHG Health is glad to have contributed to this collective effort, enabling safe,\u00a0seamless\u00a0and trusted access to healthcare systems for clinicians and staff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n National University Health System (NUHS)\u2019s\u00a0Clinical Quality and Patient-Centred Care, AIAM Deputy Chair and Assistant Chief Executive, Dr Quek Lit Sin,\u00a0also highlights\u00a0that a common vision\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0essential to\u00a0shaping\u00a0AIAM.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe success lies not only in the technology that we deployed, but\u00a0in\u00a0the strength of a healthcare ecosystem working closely together. Meaningful transformation at scale is possible when we work as\u00a0one team, united by a belief in our collective purpose,\u201d says Quek.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yong says that AIAM is\u00a0designed to scale.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are focusing on the\u00a0next\u00a0phase\u00a0of\u00a0identity\u00a0access management, where we want to transform the current AIAM\u00a0into an enterprise identity platform,\u201d she shares, adding that the\u00a0advancement is planned to respond to the growing number of applications.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, over 90 per cent of the requests in the system have been successfully triggered, Yong says.\u00a0The team\u00a0also\u00a0receives\u00a0qualitative feedback from users,\u00a0which helps them trace\u00a0the\u00a0success\u00a0of the platform.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The planned enhancements for the system include expansion to\u00a0additional\u00a0nationwide health systems,\u00a0continuous refinement of RBAC as healthcare roles evolve, and potential alignment with national digital identity frameworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n Singapore\u2019s public healthcare sector\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0consistently\u00a0adopting\u00a0digital solutions to modernise processes, services, and operations.\u00a0\u00a0 But this has also\u00a0resulted in\u00a0calls\u00a0for improvements\u00a0to\u00a0earlier systems to support evolving operational needs.\u00a0 It has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}When\u00a0transformation\u00a0is needed\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gov-web-sing.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/6\/2021IHiS1508-1781073045682.jpg\")
Intentional innovation\u00a0<\/h2>\n
A shared North\u00a0Star\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Designed to scale up\u00a0<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gov-web-sing.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/6\/image-1781073000155.jpg\")
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